UNIVERSITY    BULLETIN 


NEW  SERIES,    VOL  XIV,  NO.  17 


APRIL,  1913 


ENTERED  AS  SECOND-CLASS  MATTER  AT  THE  POSTOFFICE  AT  ANN 
ARBOR,  MICHIGAN. 


REPORT  OF  THE 
COMMITTEE  ON  HOUSE-CLUBS 

Adopted  by  the  University  Senate, 
March  24,  1913. 


Ann  Arbor 

Published  by  the  University 
1913 


Report  of  the  Committee  on  House-Clubs. 


Explanation. — For  many  years  the  problem  of  the 
houseclubs,  that  is,  of  the  fraternities,  the  sororities, 
and  other  clubs  whose  members  live  together  during, 
residence  at  the  University,  has  been  a  pressing  one 
in  the  minds  of  all  who  have  been  interested  in  the 
general  life  of  the  students  of  the  University.  These , 
clubs  have  been  increasing  in  number  and  in  signi- 
ficance, and  with  the  rapid  growth  of  the  University, 
like  many  other  things  in  the  life  of  the  University, 
they  have  come  into  larger  opportunities  of  useful- 
ness, but  also  into  larger  dangers.  From  time  to 
time  either  the  University  Senate  or  its  Committee 
on  Non-Athletic  Organizations  has  undertaken  in 
various  ways,  only  partially  successful,  to  bring  the 
clubs  to  some  sense  or  rather  to  a  keener  sense  of 
their  responsibilities  to  the  University,  and  finally  at 
a  meeting  in  June,  1912,  after  hearing  the  annual 
report  of  the  Committee,  the  Senate  took  action 
formally  asking  the  Committee  to  consider  the  ques- 
tion of  limiting  social  activities  among  students  and 
to  investigate  particularly  the  conditions  attending 
the  giving  of  house-parties.  This  action  was 
prompted  specially  by  reports  of  irregularities,  a 
milder  word  than  some  of  the  reports  would  warrant, 
in  the  conduct  of  the  parties.  The  Committee  took 
the  matter  up  at  its  first  meeting  of  the  present 
academic  year,  October  18,  and  quickly  decided,  at 
least  as  a  first  step  in  carrying  out  the  wishes  of  the 

285855 


ate,  :to.co'iisider  the  whole  question  of  the  life  of 
airtHe*hb*uSe--clubs,  appointing  a  special  committee 
for  the  purpose.  This  special  committee,  composed 
of  Professors  Alfred  H.  Lloyd,  Chairman,  Arthur  G. 
Hall,  Charles  J.  Tilden,  and  Joseph  A.  Bursley, 
undertook  the  task  assigned  to  it  at  once  and  was 
able  on  March  7  to  make  a  report  to  the  general 
committee,  and  the  general  committee,  after  making 
certain  modifications,  voted  unanimously  that  the 
report  be  adopted  and  transmitted  to  the  Senate. 
Before  presentation  to  the  Senate,  however,  in  fulfil- 
ment of  a  promise  made  to  the  clubs,  as  well  as  in 
accord  with  the  spirit  of  the  whole  investigation, 
the  report  was  read  in  full  at  a  meeting  of  representa- 
tives of  all  the  clubs  on  March  8.  More  than  a 
hundred  representatives  were  present  and  confer- 
ences with  the  committee  on  any  point  raised  in  the 
report  were  invited  in  order  that  all  possible  protests, 
criticisms  or  suggestions  from  the  students  might 
have  a  fair  hearing.  After  that  meeting,  representa- 
tives of  many  of  the  clubs  consulted  with  the  Chair- 
man of  the  Committee  in  regard  to  the  report,  but  al- 
most entirely  for  explanation  of  certain  points.  No  pro- 
tests have  been  received.  One  suggestion,  however, 
came  from  several  quarters  and  the  recommendation 
near  the  close  of  the  report  making  such  action  as 
might  be  ratified  by  three-fourths  of  the  clubs  in  any 
one  of  the  six  designated  groups  binding  upon  all  in 
that  group  was  added  and  subsequently  approved  by 
the  general  committee.  March  24  the  report  was 
presented  to  the  Senate,  adopted  without  a  dissenting 
vote  and  ordered  printed  and  circulated  at  such  time 
and  in  such  way  as  the  Committee  on  Non-Athletic 
Organizations  might  decide.  The  report  follows. 


—2— 


University  of  Michigan, 
Ann  Arbor,  March  24,  1913. 
To  The  Senate  of  the  University  of  Michigan:  — 

In  behalf  of  the  Committee  on  Non-Athletic  Or- 
ganizations the  special  Committee  on  House-Clubs 
begs  leave  to  report  as  follows:  The  Committee's 
investigations  have  followed  these  lines:  (1)  Infor- 
mation from  various  outside  sources;  (2)  Confer- 
ences with  students,  generally  in  small  specially 
selected  groups,  representing  the  various  house-clubs 
and  with  the  Inter-Fraternity  Conference  and  the 
Pan-Hellenic  Council;  (3)  tabulation  of  the  1912-11 
scholarship  records  of  students  connected  with  the 
various  houses:  and  (4)  discussion  and  delibera- 
tion within  the  Committee,  ending  in  the  formula- 
tion of  certain  recommendations.  Of  these  four 
lines  of  investigation  we  shall  now  speak  in  order: 

(1)  Information  from  outside  sources.  The  in- 
formation has  come  in  part  directly  through  letters, 
in  part  indirectly  through  newspapers,  magazines, 
fraternity  and  sorority  journals,  University  bulletins 
and  books.  The  number  of  letters  has  been  large 
and  most  of  the  letters  have  come  unsolicited.  The 
President,  some  of  the  Deans  and  the  Chairman,  I 
can  not  quite  say  have  been  swamped,  but  still  have 
been  much  pressed  with  requests  for  information  as 
to  the  general  condition  of  student  life  and  the  con- 
trol of  student  activities  at  this  University,  and  spe- 
cifically as  to  such  things  as  fraternity  and  sorority 
rushing  and  pledging,  regulation  or  number  and 
times  of  parties,  conduct  and  status,  financial  or 
moral,  of  the  Junior  Hop,  scholarship  of  students 
living  in  house-clubs,  adoption  of  a  "credit"  or 
"point"  system  for  the  limitation  of  the  number  of 
activities  in  which  -a  student  may  take  part,  and  so 

— 3— 


on.  Indeed  there  have  been  so  many  of  these  let- 
ters and  the  evidence  of  them,  explicitly  and  implicit- 
ly both  as  to  conditions  and  as  to  methods  in  other 
places  has  been  so  clear  that  a  systematic  corres- 
pondence on  our  part  has  seemed  quite  superfluous. 
The  problem  of  the  house-club  and  of  the  student 
life  in  which  the  house-club  plays  such  a  conspicu- 
ous role  is  a  live  one  and  a  serious  one  over  the 
the  whole  country;  it  is  being  studied  widely  and 
thoroughly;  and  it  is  being  met  in  various  ways, 
but  in  general  with  a  manifest  desire  for  a  minimum 
interference  with  a  phase  of  student  life  that  prob- 
ably, more  than  any  other,  ought  to  be  primarily 
junder  conditions  of  self-government.  (  Jgjjjes  have 
been  formulated,  it  is  true,  by  an  increasing  number 
of  colleges  and  universities,  and  have  been  enacted 
and  imposed;  these  rules,  to  represent  them  com- 
positely,  have  instituted  more  severe  scholarship 
tests,  provided  for  publication  of  scholarship  records, 
not  of  individuals,  but  of  groups,  limited  the  number 
and  time,  and  in  some  cases,  the  expenses  of  par- 
ties, set  dates  for  rushing,  pledging  and  initiation, 
and  have  restrained  activities  of  students  in  other 
ways;  but,  so  far  as  I  have  observed,  in  no  con- 
spicuous case  has  anything  been  done  without  some 
previous  conference  and  co-operation  with  the  stu- 
dents themselves,  jln  other  words,  the  situation  has 
been  recognized  a^in  certain  respects  a  delicate  one 
and  the  disposition  to  handle  it  with  consideration 
of  the  rights  of  all  parties  has  been  very  general. 
Determinatian  to  accomplish  certain  desired  results 
v/has  been  gained  by  a  sense  of  fairness.  [  Still  it  is 
only  right  to  say  also  that  in  a  few  cases  the  Greek 
letter  clubs  and  all  clubs  of  their  kind  have  been 
abolished  by  college  authorities  and  that  at  the  pres- 


ent  time  in  certain  neighboring  states  bills  for  abol- 
ishment are  now  before  the  legislatures.  ) 

The  feeling  is  certainly  widespread  then,  as 
letters,  newspapers,  bulletins,  magazine  articles, 
books,  and  bills  before  legislatures  all  show, 
that  the  house-club  and  particularly  the  fraternity 
and  the  sorority  must  show  cause  why  they  should 
not  be  either  materially  modified,  if  not  in  their 
formal  conditions  at  least  in,  their  general  purpose 
and  spirit,  or  suppressed.!  rThe  charges  against 
them,  varying  of  course  in  different  places,  are 
low  scholarship,  extravagance,  mismanagement, 
excessive  "student  life",  bad  taste,  snobbishness, 
disloyalty  to  the  University  by  their  exclusiveness, 
serious  dissipation  of  time,  and  not  infrequently 
even  gross  immorality.)  Of  course  the  charges  of 
immorality,  like  many  of  the  other  charges,  have 
never  been  made  exclusively  against  members  of 
the  house-clubs,  but  simply  the  clubs  have  certainly 
suffered  from  these  charges  and  the  opinion  seems 
to  prevail  that  the  students  ought  to  be  more  sensi- 
tive and  resentful  whenever  any  of  their  number 
offend  and  that  the  clubs  have  a  special  opportunity, 
which  they  neglect,  of  assisting  those  who  are  in 
the  danger  or  in  the  habit  of  any  delinquency.  In 
such  clubs,  if  anywhere,  a  man  is  his  brother's 
keeper.  Such  clubs  ought  to  provide  better  results 
in  all  matters,  not  worse,  than  those  appearing  in 
the  life  of  the  student  body  at  large.  How  the  con-  1 
ditions  have  come  to  be  what  they  are,  or  appear  to  be,  / 
is  not  definitely  explained,  so  far  as  the  Committeej 
has  observed,  but  rapid  growth  of  the  Universities, 
neglect  and  indifference  of  the  University  authorities, 
and  the  easy  decline  and  desuetude,  through  some- 
thing very  like  inanition,  intellectual  or  moral,  on 


_ 


the  part  of  the  club,  are  at  least  mentionable  here, 
if  not  quite  inferable  from  the  various  reports  and 
articles,  as  possible  causes.     But,   again,  whatever 
the  explanation  of  conditions,  the  problem  is  country 
wide  and,    with  only  here  and  there  an  exception, 
the  disposition  to  solve  it  fairly,   that  is,   with  the 
students,  not  apart  from  them,  is  not  to  be  doubted. 
1  Moreover,   as  should  be  said  here  and  not  forgotten 
/hereafter,  the  various  fraternity  and  sorority  maga- 
/zines  show  very  clearly  that  the  clubs  themselves 
[are  generally  awake  or  awakening  to  the  situation. 
Thus,   to  quote  cursorily  from  an  excellent  article, 
Fraternities  on  the  Defensive  by  U.  B.  Palmer,    Phi 
Delta  Theta,  (Banta's  Greek   Exchange.  Dec.  1912, 
page  42):     "The  signs  of  the  times  portend  trouble 
,/ffor  college  fraternities. — 'j-The   mortifying  fact  is 
I  that  the  fraternities  in  many  places  did  not  correct 
their  own  faults  until  thev  were  forced  by  college 
(\authorities  to  correct  them.  |  In  the  last  few  years 
!the    leading  fraternities    have    adopted    measures 
/calculated    to    improve    the    scholorship    of    their 
I  members  and  to  prohibit  drinking  and  gambling  in 
I  chapter-houses. — It  is  my  opinion  that  the  wide- 
spread and  growing  criticism  of  fraternities  originates 
with  the  large  and  increasing  body  of  non-fraternity 
men.    The  remedy?  { I   believe  that  for  their  own 
preservation  fraternities  must  give  up  the  idea  of 
forming  a  small  aristocratic  class,   closely  bound 
cliques    and    exclusive    social    coteries. I  The  new 
^spirit  of  democracy  will  not  submit  to  it.t    Again, 
from  the  report  of  a  Committee  before  the  Annual 
Inter-Fraternity    Conference     (New    York,    1912): 
"That  the  fraternity  is  the  cause  of  inferior  scholar- 
ship or  at  most  of  more  than  an  inconsiderable  por- 
tion of  it,  and  that  the  men  in  the  fraternities  would 


not  be  below  the  others  in  average  scholarship  were  | 
the  fraternities  out  of  existence,  does  not  seem  to  be  / 
shown,  if,  indeed,  any  considerable  data  could  form  j 
a  sound  basis  for  such  a  conclusion.  (The  testimony  / 
from  the  colleges  themselves,  on  the  other  hand,  is 
overwhelming  that  the  fraternity  has  repeatedly  been 
in  concrete  instances  a  valuable  aid  to  scholarship, 
and  that  this  potentiality  may  be,  in  time  and  with 
attention,  developed.")  But  from  the  same  report: 
"The  demonstration  is  pretty  complete  that  at 
present  the  average  scholarship  of  fraternity  men  is 
below  that  of  non-fraternity  men."  Dissipation  of 
time,  if  no  other  causes  were  suspected,  would 
explain  this.  And,  once  more,  at  the  Pan-Hellenic 
Congress  held  in  Chicago  in  October,  1912,  the 
topics  of  special  report  and  discussion  included  the 
following:  "Scholarship  of  Sorority  Women  and 
How  to  Better  it."  "Chapter  House  Supervision." 
"Co-operation  between  Sorority  members  and  Deans 
of  Universities,"  and  "Sophomore  Pledge  Day." 
To  these  citations  from  the  literature  of  the  clubs 
many  additions  might  be  made,  but  I  have  given 
enough  to  show  that  the  clubs  themselves  are 
generally  awake  to  the  problems  confronting  them 
and  that,  to  judge  from  their  many  investigating 
committees  and  their  various  public  utterances,  they 
are  not  merely  awake  but  also  for  the  most  part 
disposed  to  take  the  situation  seriously. 

(2).  Conferences  with  members  of  the  various 
clubs.  The  Committee  has  met,  usually  in  a  very 
informal  way,  representatives  of  practically  all  the 
house-clubs  among  the  students  of  the  University, 
including  not  merely  the  fraternities  and  sororities, 
but  also  the  state-clubs,  the  sectional  clubs,  fhe 
residents  in  the  league-houses,  and  others.  The 


X 


conferences  have  usually  been  with  small  groups, 
ranging  in  number  from  six  to  ten  and  there  have 
been  twelve  of  these  conferences.     In  each  case  the 
exact  purpose  of  the   meeting  was  explained,  the 
origin  of  the  investigating  committee  being  explained 
Jin  detail.    No  specific  charges  were  made  against 
(  any  individual  or  any  club.     Indeed  the  possibility 
of  such  charges,  so  far  as  the  past  went,  was  dis- 
l  missed,  since  from  the  first  the  Committee  felt  that 
Ithe  questions  involved  were  quite  too  important  and 
iVoo  general  to  be  clouded  by  specific  charges  or  by 
|  any  search  after  specific  evidence.    On  all  matters 
on  the  part  of  both  students  and  faculty  candor 
was  the  rule  and  everything  conceivably  involved 
was  brought  up  for  consideration.    With  few  excep- 
tions the  students  talked   openly  of  the    matters 
brought  to  their  attention  and  expressed  themselves 
as  ready  to  co-operate  with  the  faculties  in  correct- 
ing such  evils  as  did  exist.     Denials  were  not  made, 
although  there  was  some  difference  of  opinion  as  to 
the  justice  and  the  seriousness  of  certain  charges 
|that  had  been  brought  up.  ^Assured  that  the  house- 
iclub  was  a  valuable  asset  in  the  equipment  of  the 
i  University,  but  that  its  possible  value  to  the  life  of 
the  University,  was  only  partially  realized,  besides 
being  in  some  respects  seriously  compromised  or 
discounted,  they  were  quite  ready  to  discuss  ways 
and  means  and  three  things  among  some  others 
came  out  quite  clearly  as  in  all  probability  practical 
and  desirable:     Publication  of  scholarship  statistics 
for  all  clubs;  adoption  of  rules  or  modification  of 
existing  rules  and  practices  in  the  matter  of  rushing, 
pledging  and  initiation;  and  appointment  of  a  stand- 
irrg  faculty  committee  for  just  such  conferences,  to 
be  held  at  least  once  a  year,  as  your  Committee  was 
then  holding.  1 

-8- 


With  regard  to  house-parties  it  did  not  appear  that 
any  one  club  as  a  club  was  given  to  excess  in  the 
number  of  these,  although  the  total  of  such  social 
engagements,  thanks  to  the  habit  of  parties  among 
houie-clubs,  campus  societies,  and  other  organiza- 
tions, was  often  excessive  for  many  of  the  individual 
members  of  this  or  that  club.  Also  dates  were  not 
always  chosen  wisely;  hours  were  sometimes 
undesirably  late;  there  were  cases  of  unreasonable 
expense;  and  certain  rumors  of  "irregularities" 
were  admitted  by  some  as  essentially  true  and  by 
others  as  generally  reputed  among  the  students  to 
be  true.  One  of  the  difficulties,  if  not  evils,  of  the 
parties,  that  was  sometimes  mentioned,  was  the 
relatively  small  number  of  women  available,  this 
disproportion  resulting— of  course  I  give  here  only 
a  loose  estimate— in  the  women  who  attend  having 
two  parties  on  their  calendars  for  every  one  had  by 
the  men.  The  question  of  undesirable  guests  was 
raised;  also  that  of  unwise  invitations  and  especially 
of  unwise— because  disloyal  to  the  proper  spirit  of  a 
co-educational  institution— withholding  of  invita- 
tions, and  here  I  will  say  only  that  the  proverbial 
word  to  the  well-disposed  was  possibly  or  even  prob- 
ably sufficient. 

Of  one  matter,  which,  to  speak  quite  accurately, 
was  brought  to  mind  by  the  mere  fact  of  the  con- 
ferences rather  than  by  anything  that  was  evident 
or  obtrusive  at  them,  I  must  not  fail  to  speak,  for 
lack  of  evidence  is  not  always  conclusive  and  testi- 
mony from  other  quarters  has  sometimes  been  open 
and  emphatic.  In  a  recent  address  at  the  Union  on 
the  subject  of  fraternities  and  similar  organizations, 

—9— 


/  the  speaker,  himself  always  a  loyal  fraternity  man,  * 
referred, with  much  concern,  1  should  not  say  to  the 
^  rivalry,(but  to  a  harmful  spirit  often  associated  with 
the  rivalry  of  college  and  University  house-clubs, 
particularly  of  those  which  have  the  advantages 
\  and  the  opportunities  of  long  establishment.  These 
clubs,  often  by  their  feeling  if  not  by  some  definite 
organization,  forming  a  group  by  themselves,  are 
too  suspicious  of  each  other  ever  to  be  able,  when 
met  together,  to  take  free  and  candid  counsel  with 
each  other  or,  after  such  counseling,  to  take  much, 
if  any,  important  co-operative  action.  Suspicious  of 
each  other,  they  are  also  suspicious  of  what  lies 
beyond  their  own  particular  circle,  especially  if  any 
approach  be  made  to  them.  Even  to  mention  some 
things  is  often  to  give  them  undue  emphasis.)  Also 
your  Committee  has  no  ground  of  complaint  from 
its  own  recent  experiences.  But  present  active 
members  of  certain  clubs,  as  well  as  the  speaker 
aleady  quoted,  have  testified  to  there  being  enough 
truth  in  the  charge  to  constitute  a  serious  condition. 
Were  a  philosopher,  instead  of  only  a  chairman, 
writing  this  report,  he  might  venture  to  suggest 
that  the  outsiders,  sometimes  under  the  guise  of  the 
only  newly  clubbed  or  the  great  unclubbed,  some- 
times under  that  of  also  exclusive  or  at  least  indiffer- 
ent University  officers,  were  not  without  their  part 
in  the  causes  that  have  brought  this  serious  condi- 
tion about.  In  this  case  the  "charge  would  then  be 
quite  without  respect  of  persons  or  groups  of  persons 
or  groups  of  groups,  and,  taking  the  cue  of  such  a 
suggestion,  the  Chairman  brings  the  charge  only  in 

^Professor  James  R.  Angell,  Delta  Kappa  Epsilon,  a  graduate  of 
the  University  of  Michigan  and  now  Dean  of  the  Colleges  at  the 
University  of  Chicago. 

—10— 


that  form.  All  are  to  blame.  Furthermore,  as  to 
the  fact,  we  may  now  quote  from  an  editorial  in 
Beta  Theta  Pi  (January,  1913):  "The  opposition 
to  the  college  fraternities  is  becoming  more  intense, 
more  united  and  effective  everywhere.  It  calls  for 
more  united  and  efficient  action  on  the  part  of  the 
fraternities."  And  then,  after  reference  to  the 
amiable  but  obstinate  individualism  at  the  Inter- 
Fraternity  Conference  in  New  York,  1912,  the  edi- 
torial proceeds:  "We  fear  that  nothing  will  be  done 
by  this  body  until  the  delegates  to  it  are  given  some 
legislative  authority  and  some  power  to  bind  their 
respective  fraternities. "  To  what  extent,  locally, 
have  we  the  same  amiable  but  obstinate  individual- 
ism, whether  fostered  by  our  house  clubs  or  any 
group  of  them  or  by  those  who  are  outside?  Let  me 
leave  this  question  unanswered,  except  for  what  has 
already  been  said  here,  but  let  me  at  once  add,  now 
looking  forward,  that  the  present  time  in  the  social 
life  of  the  University  is  critical  both  for  the  clubs 
and  for  the  University,  and  rivalries  and  suspicions 
must  be  subordinated,  as  never  before,  to  a  spirit  of 
co-operation,  of  making  common  cause  among  all 
the  clubs  and  of  a  common  devotion— both  among 
the  clubs  and  between  them  and  all  others,  students 
and  officers— to  the  University.  /  Clubs,  whose  age  1 
and  standing,  thanks  to  the  valuable  services  which 
they  have  already  rendered,  make  them  set  the 
standards  for  all  their  kind,  ought  now,  if  never 
before,  to  work  together  among  themselves,  to  have 
also  a  feeling  of  community  with  others,  and,  above 
all,  to  be  moved  primarily  by  a  common,  active 
and  effective  loyalty  to  the  University.  That  such 
loyalty  should  be  first  and  uppermost  seems  axio- 
matic and  that,  if  it  were,  co-operation  all  along  the 

—11— 


ine  would  result  your  committee  can  not  doubt, 
nd,  again,  the  present  opportunity  for  service  to 
the  University  is  very  great  and,  to  the  end  of 
securing  it,  co-operation  is  certainly  as  necessary 
as  the  very  thought  of  it  is  stimulating.  ^To  your 
Committee,  therefore,  nothing  seems  to  be  more 
desirable  than  that  our  fraternities  and  house-clubs 
generally,  whether  in  one  whole  or  in  federated 
groups,  should  organize,  not  just  outwardly  and 
formally,  but  definitely  and  really,  for  purposes  of 
defense  not  only  against  the  opposition  that  has 
arisen  but  also  against  the  evils  attendant  upon 
their  own  individualism;  and,  as  I  have  to  add, 
however  repetitously,  since  only  in  this  way  can 
they  really  defend  themselves,  for  purposes  of  real 
co-operation  with  each  other  and  with  the  University 
in  all  that  serves  the  University  and  its  best  life\ 

We  can  not  leave  this  topic  of  the  Committee's 
conferences  with  the  students  without  referring  to 
the  satisfaction  that  we  had  in  finding  that  we  were 
sometimes  only  bringing  coals  to  Newcastle  (or 
say,  more  appropriately,  owls  to  Athens?) ,  the  stu- 
dents having  already  raised  among  themselves  the 
questions  that  we  were  raising  and  having  in  some 
instances  already  anticipated  us  in  definite  action 
under  consideration,  if  not  already  taken,  and 
without  testifying  also  to  the  benefit  that  the  Com- 
mittee had  from  the  discussions.  Meeting  and 
talking  with  the  students  was  a  privilege  and  did 
much  towards  making  our  views  straighter  and 
((clearer.  In  general  intent  and  for  that  matter  in 
I  conscious  and  avowed  purpose  there  is  little  that 
((anyone  could  find  fault  with.  Easy  going  ways 
come  all  too  easily,  even  when  unassisted,  and  the 
influence  of  University  Administration  all  over  the 

—12  — 


country  for  many  years  undoubtedly  has  only  made, 
we  do  not  say  by  its  lack  of  interference,  but  by  its 
lack  of  co-operation,  those  easy,  irresponsible  ways 
come  still  more  easily,  so  that  the  students  can 
hardly  be  said  to  have  had  much  real  education  in  / 
what  now  at  least  must  be  expected  of  them,  namely, 
in  what  we  venture  to  call  —  covering  all  that 
college  life  has  to  offer  —  university  responsibility  as 
well  as  university  spirit.  Have  we  not  in  recent 
years  been  trying  to  get  along  on  spirit  without 
responsibility?  HThe  general  purposes,  then,  of  the  -\*^~ 
students  as  a  body  are  good,  but  there  has  been  a 
certain  feeling,  in  some  quarters,  of  helplessness,  in 
other  quarters,  of  irresponsibility,  y  Not  our  particu- 
lar job!"  In  a  word  the  inertia  of  long  standing 
conditions  has  been  upon  them  and  they  need 
advice,  of  course,  but  also  sympathy  and  apprecia- 
tion. Moreover,  is  it  even  commonly  reasonable, 
we  do  not  say  to  think  or  believe,  but  even  in  a 
vague  sort  of  way  to  feel  that  men  and  women  of 
college  age  are  not  as  a  body  moved  by  good  pur- 
poses and  will  not  respond  to  genuine  sympathy? 

In  saying  this  the  Committee   has  no  wish  toj 
cover  up  any  of  the  evils.    The  evils  exist  and  some 
of  them,  although    affecting  directly    a  relatively 
small  number  of  students,  are  serious;  but  to  speak, 
for  the  general  situation,   they  certainly  do  not  exist 
deliberately  or  by  intent  and  the  way  to  meet  them 
must,   we  suggest  again,   be  the  way  of  candor  and 
sympathy.    Even  college  students  are  not  in  the, 
habit  of  rising  in  their  might  and  exclaiming,  "Lo! 
Now  we  will  go  on  the  rampage  and  do  wrong! " 
(Practically  all  of  the  house-clubs,   including  the 
so-called  league-houses  of  the  women,  were  found 
to  have  house-rules  that  in  most  cases  were  well- 

—13— 


/Conceived  and  that  were  fairly  well  executed  also  in 
most  cases,  although  visits  of  alumni  often  caused 
[special  exceptions  to  this  rule.^)  The  rules  were 
discussed  in  the  conferences  and  both  the  import- 
ance of  them  and  the  difficulty  of  execution  were 
appreciated.  The  Committee  could  only  urge  more 
attention  to  them,  and  always  the  Committee  took 
the  ground  that  wherever  students  were  grouped 
together  in  the  same  house  under  conditions  that 
involved  any  conflict  of  interests  and  any  possibility 
of  co-operation  some  organization  and  some  care- 
Jtilly  made  rules  were  very  desirable.^  Also,  at 
least  for  the  groups  having  a  close  organization,  the 
desirability  of  supervision  of  scholarship  records  and 
of  some  restraint  upon  "activities"  was  pointed  out. 
And  we  add,  in  passing,  that,  where  existing  house- 
clubs  have  wished  to  become  Greek  letter  fraternities 
or  where  applications  have  come  for  official  recogni- 
tion of  new  fraternities,  the  Committee  has  favored 
/  such  changes,  only  insisting  on  evidence  of  proper 
conditions  of  organization.  ^Jhe  more  such  clubs 
there  are,  the  less  danger  will  there  be  that  isolation 
and  self-cultivation  will  constitute  the  primary  pur- 
poses of  existence  and  the  more  surely  will  each  club 
{J'md  its  true  purpose  and  value.  ) 

(3)  Scholarship.  Reasonable  success  in  scholar- 
ship is  not  an  unnatural  demand  for  a  university  to 
make  of  its  students,  be  they  or  be  they  not  organ- 
ized in  clubs,  nor  is  it  unreasonable  for  a  university 
to  think  that  organization  ought  to  enhance  success 
in  scholarship.  (Moreover  university  administrators 
can  not  forget  that  the  pioneer  of  the  Greek  letter 
fraternities,  Phi  Beta  Kappa,  has  fulfilled  its  original 
purpose  and  also  almost  lost  sight  of  some  of  the 
incidental  advantages  of  its  organization  by  becoming 


an  honor-society  for  special  recognition  of  excellence/ 
in  scholarship.  They  may  not  wish,  indeed  they\ 
certainly  do  not  wish,  that  in  general  the  fraternities 
and  house-clubs  at  large  should  become  dens  of 
scholarship,  scholastic  retreats,  but  they  must  be 
right  in  believing  that  the  clubs  ought  to  control 
their  various  affairs  in  such  a  manner  as  to  make 
success  in  scholarship,  not  merely  possible,  but  at 
least  normally  easy,  so  far  as  surroundings  go,  and 
positively  desirable  and  creditable.)  That  scholar- 
ship has  been  discredited  is  not  charged,  although 
some  have  been  of  the  opinion  that  such  a  charge 
would  not  be  without  some  foundation;  the  only 
charge  is  that  scholarship  has  not  been  sufficiently 
accredited,  failing  often  to  have  even  a  fair  chance 
with  the  other  student  activities  such  as  athletics, 
dramatics,  politics,  forensics  and  various  other 
things  like  or  unlike.  All  over  the  country  the 
figures,  compiled  in  recent  years  with  great  care, 
show  that  scholarship  has  fallen  sadly  behind.  At 
one  university  the  scholarship  of  the  fraternities 
averages  well  below  that  of  the  Varsity  athletes, 
who  in  turn  are  well  below  the  general  student 
body.  The  sororities  at  this  particular  university 
make  a  better  showing,  but  except  in  one  instance 
are  below  the  average.  The  exception  leads  the 
whole  procession  and  so  suggests  attractive  possi- 
bilities./ As  has  been  mentioned  already,  in  many 
places  recently  scholarship  tests  have  been  made 
for  membership  and  even  for  candidacy  for  all  the 
fraternities  and  sororities  and  publication  of 
scholarship  averages  is  becoming  common.  At, 
Cornell  a  scholarship  honor-roll  is  published,  only 
those  clubs  being  admitted  who  have  lost  noi 
members  for  delinquency  in  scholarship  during  the] 

—15— 


J 


preceeding  year;  jthis  in  addition  to  the  publication 
of  averages,  which  were  70  for  fraternity  men  and 
74  for  non-fraternity  men  in  1911-12.  At  Miami 
University  the  relation  of  class  attendance  and  stu- 
dent activities  to  scholarship  was  investigated 
statiscally  and  as  to  the  results  of  the  investigation 
we  q  uote  from  the  M  iami  Student  for  October  10, 1912: 
jr  In  general  it  is  evident  that  the  students  actively 
mterested  in  student  activities  rank  low  in  scholar- 
ship. Those  who  rank  high  in  scholarship  have 
participated  in  student  activities  below  the  averagj^, 
with  a  notable  exception  of  the  members  of  Phi 
Beta  Kappa.  The  members  of  this  organization, 
with  their  high  scholarship,  were  largely  active  in 
running  the  various  activities  of  the  college.  (^The 
V/curve,  here  printed,  is  very  good  evidence  that  some 
limitation  in  participation  in  student  activities  is 
warranted  and  that  no  student  can  be  absent  from 
classes  and  be  largely  occupied  with  extra  activities 
and  at  the  same  time  stand  high  in  scholarship}"  Of 
course  these  conclusions  apply  to  all  students,  but 
they  are  also  quite  ^rtinent  to  the  matter  of  this 

^^^^ift 

report. 

As  for  the  conditions  at  our  own  university  such 
figures  as  we  have  show  that  Michigan  is  not  in  any 
material  respect  different  from  her  sister  institutions. 
Complete,  and  wholly  satisfactory  figures  have  not 
been  obtainable  at  this  time,  owing  to  lack  of  graded 
records  in  some  departments  or  lack  of  uniformity 
in  records  among  the  departments,  but  through  the 
interest  and  labor  of  Professor  A.  G.  Hall,  we  have 
•  statistical  evidence  that  suffices,  we  think,  to  make 
our  general  condition  here  clear.  Here,  as  else- 
where, there  will  be  few  left  who  will  argue  that  our 
house-clubs  are  doing  their  duty  by  the  University 

—16- 


in  the  encouragement  and  maintenance  of  excellence 
in  scholarship.  The  results  of  the  investigation  of 
scholarship  records  are  summarized  below.  It 
should  be  understood  that  the  records  used  were 
only  for  one  semester,  the  second  semester  of 
1911-1912,  and  thus  that  the  evidence  may  be  taken 
only  as  a  general  indication  of  conditions.  In  subse- 
quent years,  however,  due  notice  of  intent  having 
been  given,  this  consideration  will  not  need  to  be 
shown.  Specific  details  will  be  communicated  to 
the  clubs  individually,  according  to  their  specific 
interests.  It  should  be  said  here  that  publication  of 
the  scholarship  records  has  been  welcomed,  by  the 
clubs  themselves,  being  considered  by  them  an 
important  aid  to  their  improvement  in  scholarship 
as  well  as  in  the  general  conditions  of  club  life. 
(  The  comparative  standing  of  the  various  groups 
oftiouse-clubs  and  that  of  the  Varsity  athletes  in 
their  relationh  to  certain  average  grades  of  the  entire 
student  body^  are  given  graphically  to  scale  in  the 
table  on  the>next  page. 

(4)  Discussion  and  deliberation  within  the  Com- 
mittee and  recommendations.  The  Committee,  as  a 
result  of  its  own  deliberations  and  of  the  conferences 
that  it  held  at  several  meetings  of  the  whole  Com- 
mittee on  Non-Athletic  Organizations,  finally  came  to 
the  conclusion  that  at  least  for  the  present  any  action 
taken  by  the  officers  of  the  University  should 
recognize  for  the  house-clubs  the  general  principle 
of  self-p-overnment  and  in  accordance  with  this 
conclusion  the  Committee  makes  to  the  Senate  the 
following  recommendations: 

(a)  That,  with  the  exception  to  be  noted  here- 
after, no  rules  relating  specifically  to  the  life  of  stu- 

—17- 


General  Sororities 

Other  Women's  Clubs 
Norm  or  Ideal  Average 

All  Unorganized  Students 
Professional  Sororities 
University  Average 

All  House  Clubs 
Professional  Fraternities 
Other  Men's  Clubs 

Varsity  Athletes 
Passing  Grade 


General  Fraternities 


dents  in  the  various  house-clubs  be  imposed  before 
March,  1915,  unless  circumstances  now  unforeseen 
should  arise  requiring  the  imposition  of  such  rules. 

(b)  That  scholarship  statistics,  showing  so  far  as 
possible  and   as  fairly  as  possible,   the  relation  in 
average  scholarship  of  each  club  to  the  general  stu- 
dent body,  be  published  annually. 

(c)  That  the  Committee  on  Non- Athletic  Organ- 
izations be  empowered   annually,   after  conference 
with  the  President,   to  appoint  an   Advisory  Com- 
mittee on  House-Clubs,  the  special  duty  of  this  Com- 
mittee being  to  meet   in  conference   representatives 
of  the  different  clubs  at  least  once  during  the  year, 
the  time  and  manner  of  the  conferences  to  be  left  to 
the  discretion  of  the  Committee. 

(d)  That  the  house-clubs,  either  individually  or 
through  such  bodies,   now  existing  or  hereafter  to 
come  into  existence,   as   may  represent  them,  be 
asked  to  take  some  definite  action  before  February 
15,  1914,  upon  the  following  lines: 

I .  Reconsideration  of  their  house-rules  and, 
when  found  necessary,  revision  of  these  rules 
in  any  way  that  seems  to  promise  better  con- 
servation of  time,   better  scholarship,   greater 
moral  and  social  responsibility,  and  in  general 
a  more  effective  loyalty  to  the  best  interests  of 
the    university;    it  being    especially  recom- 
mended that  some  attention  be  given,  either 
through  the  house-rules  or  through   rules  of 
more  general  application  to  the  question  of 
restraining  individuals  from  excessive  partici- 
pation in  the  various  student  activities.  , 

II.  Reforms  in  the  present  conditions  and  ^ 
methods  of  rushing,  pledging  and  initation;  it 
being  especially  suggested  (1)  that  some  rea- 

—19— 


sonable  provision  be  made  for  a  certain  mini- 
mum of  credits  to  be  earned  during  residence 
at  this  university  before  a  student  can  be  con- 
sidered eligible  to  membership;  (2)  that  all 
university  fraternities  and  sororities  and  other 
similar  house-clubs  formally  and  publicly  re- 
fuse to  consider  for  membership  all  students 
who,  after  the  date  of  such  refusal  being  made 
known,  have  become  members  or  have 
continued  to  be  active  members  of  so- 
cieties of  any  sort  existing  in  violation 
either  of  the  rules  of  the  schools  or  of 
the  laws  of  the  states  from  which  the 
students  have  come;  *  and  (3)  that  as  regards 
rushing,  pledging  and  initiation,  the  policy  of 
having  active  membership  begin  with  the 
sophomore  year  should  be  adopted  and  that 


*  It  may  be  that  the  action  here  proposed  is  not  the  wisest  way 
in  which  to  secure  the  result  desired.  The  Committee,  however, 
feels  that  the  university  fraternities  and  sororities  can  exert  an 
important  influence  for  improvement  of  the  club  conditions  in  the 
preparatory  schools.  Certainly  deliberate  and  underhanded  viola- 
tion of  rules  or  laws  ought  not  to  be  countenanced  by  the  higher 
institutions  and  few,  if  any,  will  deny  that  there  has  been  cause 
for  the  intent,  when  not  for  the  form,  of  the  rules  and  laws  which 
have  recently  been  madeJj^Probably  the  two  greatest  sources  of 
the  evils  in  the  clubs  of  the  preparatory  schools  are  virtual  lack  of 
real  purpose— other  than  that  of  a  clique  or  fellowship— and  preco- 
cious imitation^  No  one  can  wish  for  a  moment  to  deny  to  boys 
and  girls  the  important  privilege  of  organization,  but  the  high 
school  fraternity  or  sorority  has  not  the  reason  for  existence,  that 
Of  a  home,  which  justifies  the  college  or  university  house-club,  and 
high  school  students,  accordingly,  should  be  led  to  form  their 
societies  on  a  different  plan.  Some  purpose,  organic  to  the  nor- 
mal life  of  the  whole  school,  should  be  a  necessary  requirement^ 
See  also  an  article  "High  School  Fraternities."— Santa's  Greek  Ex- 
change, Dec.,  1912. 

—20— 


rules  less  definite  or  less  stringent  than  those 
now  maintaining  at  the  University  of  Wis- 
consin would  not  meet  the  present  needs  either 
of  the  University  or  of  the  clubs  themselves. 

NOTE. —    The  Wisconsin  rules  are  the  following: 

Faculty  Regulations:  (1)  No  person  not  a  member  of  the 
University  shall  be  pledged.  (2)  No  Freshman  shall  lodge 
or  board  in  a  fraternity  house.  (3)  No  student  shall  be 
initiated  by  a  fraternity  while  on  probation.  (4)  No  stu- 
dent shall  be  initiated  by  a  fraternity  until  the  beginning  of 
his  Sophomore  year.  (5)  No  student  initiated  elsewhere 
shall  affiliate  with  the  chapter  of  his  fraternity  until  the  be- 
ginning of  his  Sophomore  year. 

Inter  fraternity  Agreement:  (1)  There  shall  be  no  ostentatious 
rushing  at  any  time;  (a)  No  Freshmen  shall  be  entertained 
singly  or  in  groups  at  chapter  dances,  (b)  No  Freshmen 
shall  be  invited  to  the  chapter  houses,  (c)  No  Freshmen 
shall  be  taken  to  the  theater  or  other  places  of  amusement, 
(d)  No  Freshmen  shall  be  paid  any  sort  of  undue  attention, 
and  (e)  No  Freshmen,  except  pledges  and  brothers,  shall  be 
allowed  in  the  chapter  houses.  (2)  No  Freshman  or  Fresh- 
men shall  be  rushed  by  any  fraternity  until  the  first  Monday 
following  the  first  day  of  recitations  at  the  opening  of  the 
second  semester.  (3)  No  invitation  to  membership  shall  be 
extended  to  any  Freshman  or  Freshmen  until  four  weeks 
from  the  first  day  of  the  rushing  period.  (4)  All  of  the  fra- 
ternities agree  to  provide  suitable  enforcement  for  these 
regulations, 

A  writer  of  the  class  of  1914  and  of  Alpha  Lambda  of 
Sigma  Chi  writes  in  the  Sigma  Chi  Quarterly  for  January, 
1913,  as  follows:  "From  present  indications  the  rules  have 
proved  to  be  most  satisfactory,  as  they  have  been  given  the 
hearty  co-operation  of  all  the  fraternities*  No  fraternity  has, 
as  yet,  been  summoned  to  appear  before  the  judiciary  com- 
mittee (composed  of  five  fraternity  men  and  two  faculty 
members)  in  violation  of  the  rules."  For  a  summary  of  vari- 
ous restrictions  recently  put  on  fraternities,  seethe  The  Scroll, 
of  Phi  Delta  Theta,  for  January,  1913. 

Of  course,  with  necessary  changes  of  words,  the  rules 
given  above  are  also  applicable  to  sororities. 

—21— 


J 


III.  Adoption  of  such  measures  as  will  pro- 
tect, better  than  heretofore,  the  good  name  of 
the  different  houses;  it  being  suggested  with 
emphasis  that  the  clubs  need  to  make  common 
cause  in  this  matter,  that  the  conduct  of 
parties  as  regards  times,  methods  and  expense 
,may  constitute,  as  in  the  past  in  some  cases 
it  has  constituted,  a  serious  danger,  that  life 
in  the  houses  during  the  Summer  Session  is 
not  to  be  overlooked,  that  in  some  way  re- 
turning alumni  should  be  made  to  realize  that 
after  graduation  they  have  a  greater,  not  a 

?  lessened  responsibility  to  their  clubs  and  to 
the  University  and  to  the  good  names  of  both 

i  than  they  had  before  graduation,  and  that  the 
conduct  of  members  outside  the  houses  and 
even  away  from  the  University  and  from  Ann 
Arbor  may  bring,  as  in  the  past  it  has  often 
brought,  serious  ill-repute. 

(e)  That  faculty  members  and  all  alurnni  mem- 
bers of  all  the  clubs  be  asked  to  co-operate,  so  far  as 
they  can,   with  the  students  in  securing  the  action 
above  proposed  and   in  making  it  wise  in  form  and 
determined  in  spirit. 

(f)  That  the  clubs  now   represented  in  so-called 
Conferences  or  Congresses  or  Councils  be  specially 
asked  to  make  the  organization   of  these  inter-frat- 
ernity or  inter-sorority  bodies  more  formal,  securing 
to  the  regular  membership  their  best  men,  including 
regularly  in  the  membership  alumni  or  alumnae  as 
well  as  undergraduate  representatives,   and  giving 
the  bodies  themselves  as  so  organized  such  real 
powers  as  will  make  effective  co-operation  possible, 
and  that  clubs  not  now  represented  in  such  bodies 
be  urged  either  to  secure  representation  or,   this 

—22— 


failing,  to  organize  themselves  along  .similar  lines. 

(g)     That— this  being  the  exception  already  refer-] 
red  to— the  Senate  now  rule  that  for  the  purposes  here 
involved  the  various  clubs  be  divided  into  six  groups: 
professional    fraternities,     professional     sororities, 
general  fraternities,  general  sororities,   other  men's 
house-clubs,  and  other  women's  house-clubs;   and 
that,   whatever  action  in  any  of  the  matters  here  J 
proposed   may  be  ratified   by  three-fourths  of  they 
clubs  in  any  group  be  declared  as  binding  upon  a\i 
the  members  of  that  group;    The  provisions  of  thi£ 
rule   in  special  cases  may  be  modified  at  the  discre- 
tion of  the  Committee  on   Non-Athletic  Organiza- 
tions. 

(h)  That  the  clubs  or  their  representatives  be 
asked  to  report  to  the  Committee  on  Non-Athletic 
Organizations  such  action  upon  the  matters  above 
proposed  or  upon  any  kindred  matters  as  they  finally 
take. 

(i)  That,  in  the  event  of  acceptance  and  adoption 
of  this  report  by  the  University  Senate,  whether  as 
it  now  stands  or  as  it  may  be  modified  or  amended, 
copies  be  sent  promptly  to  all  the  house-clubs,  to  the 
Interfraternity  Council  and  the  Pan  Hellenic  Council, 
to  the  General  Secretaries  of  national  fraternities 
and  sororities,  to  the  Regents  of  the  University,  and 
to  such  other  persons  or  organizations  as  may  be 
supposed  interested  in  the  purposes  of  the  report  and 
its  recommendations. 

Such  are  the  recommendations  that  the  Committee 
makes,  and  it  wishes  to  say  in  final  explanation  of 
them,  that  so  far  as  requesting  action  by  the  clubs, 
they  are  made  not  by  way  of  threat,  but  by  way 
of  suggestion  and  advice,  the  wisdom  of  which  is  to 
be  determined  solely  according  to  internal  needs  un- 

—23- 


der  the  stress  of  present  conditions.  The  clubs  are 
given  until  March,  1915,  to  settle  their  own  problem, 
and  at  that  time  the  Senate  must  again  considerthe 
problem  and  decide  if  any  other  action  on  its  part 
besides  the  adoption  of  this  report,  should  it  be 
adopted,  be  necessary. 

The  report  is  respectfully  submitted. 

Alfred  H.  Lloyd,  Chairman, 
Arthur  G.  Hall, 
Charles  J.  Tilden, 
Joseph  A.  Bursley. 

University  of  Michigan. 
March  24,  1913. 


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